================ @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ +# Key Instructions in Clang + +Key Instructions is an LLVM feature that reduces the jumpiness of optimized code debug stepping. This document explains how Clang applies the necessary metadata. + +## Implementation + +See the [LLVM docs](../../llvm/docs/KeyInstructionsDebugInfo.md) for general info about the feature (and LLVM implementation details). + +Clang needs to annotate key instructions with the new metadata. Variable assignments (stores, memory intrinsics), control flow (branches and their conditions, some unconditional branches), and exception handling instructions are annotated. Calls are ignored as they're unconditionally marked `is_stmt`. This is achieved with a few simple constructs: + +Class `ApplyAtomGroup` - This is a scoped helper similar to `ApplyDebugLocation` that creates a new source atom group which instructions can be added to. It's used during CodeGen to declare that a new source atom has started, e.g. in `CodeGenFunction::EmitBinaryOperatorLValue`. + +`CodeGenFunction::addInstToCurrentSourceAtom(llvm::Instruction *KeyInstruction, llvm::Value *Backup)` adds an instruction (and a backup instruction if non-null) to the current "atom group" defined with `ApplyAtomGroup`. The Key Instruction gets rank 1, and backup instructions get higher ranks (the function looks through casts, applying increasing rank as it goes). There are a lot of sites in Clang that need to call this (mostly stores and store-like instructions). FIXME?: Currently it's called at the CGBuilderTy callsites; it could instead make sense to always call the function inside the CGBuilderTy calls, with some calls opting out. ---------------- jmorse wrote:
IMO we can ditch the FIXME sentence to avoid un-necessary uncertainty. It could be re-shaped into "Most calls to $blah are annotated with `addInstToCurrentSourceAtom`, with a few unannotated when they shouldn't be 'key'". That signals to the reader that if they're using $blah, they should probably consider making this annotation, which is what they're looking to learn from this documentation. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/137991 _______________________________________________ cfe-commits mailing list cfe-commits@lists.llvm.org https://lists.llvm.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/cfe-commits
